China · Tradition
Buddhism sacred sites in China
Explore 31 sacred sites in China connected to Buddhism. Compare locations on the map and find respectful cultural and visiting guidance.
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Showing 1-31 of 31 matching sites
Drak Yerpa
Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Drak Yerpa is a limestone cliff amphitheater northeast of Lhasa containing 108 meditation caves sanctified by twelve centuries of contemplative practice....
Fanjingshan mountain and temple, Tongren
Tongren, Guizhou, China
Rising from the primordial forests of Guizhou, Fanjingshan is China's Fifth Sacred Buddhist Mountain and the earthly throne of Maitreya, the Buddha yet to come....
Ganden Monastery
Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Ganden Monastery, founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409 on a mountain ridge east of Lhasa, is the mother monastery of the Gelug school — the largest institution in Tibetan...
Jokhang Temple
Chengguan District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
For nearly fourteen hundred years, Jokhang Temple has stood at the center of Tibetan Buddhism, housing what is believed to be the most sacred Buddha image in existence....
Lake Nam Tso
Baingoin County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Lake Nam Tso sits at 4,718 meters on the Tibetan plateau, one of the highest large lakes in the world and one of the three holiest in Tibet....
Lake Yamzho Yumco
Ngarzhag, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Lake Yamzho Yumco — Yamdrok — is one of Tibet's three holiest lakes and the one most charged with existential meaning....
Leshan Giant Buddha
Leshan, Sichuan, China
For ninety years, three generations of craftsmen carved Maitreya Buddha into the cliffs where three rivers meet at Leshan....
Longmen Grottoes
Luolong District, Henan, China
The Longmen Grottoes stretch along the limestone cliffs of the Yi River south of Luoyang, a kilometer of carved Buddhist figures numbering over 110,000....
Lushan Mountain
Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China
Rising above the Yangtze plain, Mount Lu has drawn monks, scholars, and poets for over sixteen centuries....
Mount Gongga
Kangding, Sichuan, China
Mount Gongga rises 7,556 meters above the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan Province, the highest peak in the region by thousands of meters....
Mount Putuo (Pǔtuó Shān)
Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
Mount Putuo is an island monastery-city in the East China Sea, venerated for over a thousand years as the earthly dwelling place of Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion....
Mt. Amnye Machen
Maqên, Qinghai, China
Amnye Machen rises to 6,282 meters from the grasslands of the Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, an entire mountain range wrapped in the great bend...
Mt. Dinghushan
Dinghu District, Guangdong, China
Dinghushan rises above the city of Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province, a mountain of ancient subtropical forest sheltering Qingyun Temple, one of the most important Buddhist...
Mt. Emei Shan
双水井, Sichuan, China
Mount Emei rises 3,099 meters from the Sichuan Basin, one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China and the bodhimanda of Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva of universal...
Mt. Fanjing, Guizhou, China
Yinjiang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou, China
Fanjingshan rises 2,570 meters from the forests of northeastern Guizhou Province, a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognized for its extraordinary biodiversity and revered as...
Mt. Gu Shan
Gushan, Fujian, China
Gu Shan, Drum Mountain, rises from the eastern suburbs of Fuzhou in Fujian Province, its summit crowned by a rock that resonates like a drum in wind and rain....
Mt. Jiuhua Shan
Chizhou, Anhui, China
Jiuhua Shan rises from the Anhui countryside as one of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains, dedicated to Ksitigarbha — the bodhisattva who vowed not to achieve...
Mt. Mai Ji Shan
Maiji, Gansu, China
Maijishan rises from the forests of Gansu Province as a solitary haystack-shaped cliff, its red sandstone face honeycombed with 194 caves containing approximately 7,800...
Mt. Meili Xue
Zogang County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Kawagebo, the 6,740-meter summit of the Meili Snow Mountains on the Yunnan-Tibet border, is the highest unclimbed peak over 6,000 meters in the world....
Mt. Pu Tuo Shan
Putuo District, Zhejiang, China
Putuo Shan is a small island in the East China Sea that serves as the earthly home of Guanyin — the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the most beloved figure in Chinese...
Mt. Qian Shan, Liaoning
Wenquan Subdistrict, Liaoning, China
Qian Shan — Thousand Mountain — rises from the Liaoning plain in northeastern China with 999 peaks, each said to resemble a lotus petal....
Mt. Song Shan
Gongyi, Henan, China
Mount Song is the central mountain of China's Five Great Mountains and the cosmological center of the directional Wuyue system....
Mt. Targo and Lake Dangra
Targo, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Dangra Yumco and Dargo Mountain form a sacred married couple in the Bon tradition, Tibet's pre-Buddhist indigenous religion....
Mt. Tiantai Shan
Tiantai County, Zhejiang, China
Mount Tiantai is the birthplace of Tiantai Buddhism, the first purely Chinese school of Buddhist philosophy....
Mt. Wu Tai Shan
Taihuai, Shanxi, China
Mount Wutai is the earthly home of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, identified in the Avatamsaka Sutra as residing on a Clear Cool Mountain in the northeast....
Potala Palace
Chengguan District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
The Potala Palace rises 117 meters above the Lhasa Valley on the Red Hill, named for Avalokiteshvara's mythical abode, Mount Potalaka....
Sakya
Tashigang, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Sakya Monastery is the seat of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the four major schools, founded in 1073 by the Khon family, who trace their ancestry to...
Samye
Samye, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Samye is where Buddhism became institutionally rooted in Tibet, the place where a religion became a civilization....
Tashilhunpo
城西街道, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Tashilhunpo Monastery rises from the slopes of Niseri Hill in Shigatse, a 37-acre compound of gilded rooftops and whitewashed walls that has served as the seat of the...
Toling
Tsamda County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Toling Monastery stands in the surreal Zanda Earth Forest of western Tibet, nearly 1,200 kilometers from Lhasa....
Yungang Grottoes
Datong, Shanxi, China
The Yungang Grottoes stretch for a kilometer along a sandstone cliff face near Datong, Shanxi Province, a procession of 252 caves containing over 51,000 carved Buddhist...
Key questions
Buddhism sacred sites in China questions
What is included in this Buddhism guide to China?
This guide includes 31 sacred places within the Buddhism tradition in China.
Can I view these China sacred places on a map?
Yes. Switch to map view to compare their geography, then open a site page for history, visiting context, and nearby places.
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